Plantation owners who have recently been certified receive certificates as part of the opening of the RT 9 conference.

For a full overview of participants click here.

The conference was opened by the Malaysian Minister of Plantation, Industries and Commodities Yang Berhormat Tan Sri Bernard Dompok Giluk. He said in his speech that the Malaysian government is very committed to promoting sustainable palm oil production and praised the RSPO as an initiative that contributes to sustainability. He also indicated that the Malaysian government encourages the industry to sustainable production through methane capture. The government itself contributes to research into the sustainable use of biomass that is generated during palm oil production.

Jan Kees Vis, RSPO President and Director Sustainable Agriculture at Unilever, said in his opening speech that with the launch of the new Trademark RSPO has become a "brand". He stressed that to ensure that RSPO remains a strong and credible brand, it is important that all members of the RSPO adhere to its standards. He expects this will be rewarded by increased demand for sustainably produced palm oil. Jonathan Porrit, founder of the Association Forum for the Future, said in his keynote address that palm oil is not the only crop for which sustainability criteria are developed. He expects that this will soon happen for all crops. After all, every year the world loses 10 million hectares of productive farmland. "If we want to feed the increasing global population in a sustainable way, our agriculture must be sustainable," he said. He encouraged the industry to not feel singled out in a negative way, but instead feel blessed because of the opportunity to contribute to sustainability standards themselves, rather than having them imposed.

The conference program included sessions on the Market Transformation, "Trade and Traceability," "Greenhouse gases", and of course 'Smallholders'. During the session on Trade and Traceability Harold Sauthoff, Vice President Global Procurement Renewable Raw Materials from BASF, explained that his company aims at switching to the use of sustainable palm oil and sustainable palm kernel oil, but that this is not easy given the complexity of the ingredients they use. He said they are now pleased that a technical working group has been started under the RSPO Standing Committee Trade and Traceability to develop solutions for the use of sustainable palm oil and palm kernel oil for this group of users.

During the session on Smallholders John Hartman of Cargill Tropical Palm Holdings explained how Cargill has ensured certification of all the 8800 smallholders on their plantations in Indonesia. He indicated that their projects have also resulted in increased yields per hectare. Jan Maarten Dros of Solidaridad explained that under their POPSI framework they now support six projects in four palm oil producing regions. They have a further 2.6 million euros to spend on projects that enhance productivity and enhance sustainability of smallholders, provided they are co-funded by private companies. Norman Jiwan of Sawit Watch, and chairman of the RSPO Task Force on Smallholders, explained that as of now the RSPO Task Force on Smallholders will fall under the RSPO Standing Committee Standards and Certification, so that the activities are more aligned with the other RSPO activities. Furthermore, the RSPO Secretariat has appointed Majail Julia to work on issues concerning smallholders. She will manage the RSPO Task Force on Smallholders and the Dispute Settlement Facility. Before Majial Julia has worked with WWF Malaysia.

During the session on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) representatives of the Working Group Greenhouse Gas presented their results. The group has developed a tool to assist plantation owners to monitor and report on greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the group has agreed on recommendations to reduce GHG emissions in new and existing plantations. These measures are voluntary, but the group recommends that these recommendations are included in the RSPO Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Palm Oil Production, which will be revised in 2012.

Wim Oosterhuis, chairman of MVO, explained that one of MVO's key priorities is to stimulate the uptake of RSPO Certified Sustainable Palm Oil. He informed the conference that to this end MVO has established the Dutch Task Force Sustainable Palm Oil with the ambition to ensure 100% sustainable palm oil in the Netherlands in 2015 and called upon the Dutch government to abolish the import tariff on sustainable palm oil in the EU. MVO will report on progress of the Task Force activities in the first quarter of 2012. The activities gained praise and appreciation from attendees.

Darrel Webber, since the beginning of 2011 the RSPO Secretary General, closed the conference with an impressive speech. He indicated that at this year's conference he experienced more solidarity between various participants than ever before. He continued by saying that especially now it is very important to get on together to realise the goals of sustainable production and trade. Recently, the International Energy Agency has indicated that the global population has five years to prevent a rise in temperature of two degrees Celcius. If we do not succeed, this will lead to irreversible climate impacts and we can only succeed if we take measures to cut CO2 emissions within five years. (For more information: www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/09/fossil-fuel-infrastructure-climate-change)

Webber also indicated that despite regular complaints about the lack of progress within the RSPO, there are also surely positive results to be reported: During the last three years, the market penetration of RSPO - certified palm oil increased from 0 to over 5%. This is slightly less than a quarter of the forest sector where the penetration is now around 18%. This sector started in 1993 and thus took 16 years to reach this result. Another hopeful sign is that a recent Chinese study has shown that presently one out of three Chinese sees the environment as the main topic the government needs to address. 

During the General Assembly on 24 November six resolutions were discussed including the new mission and vision of RSPO, the submission of time bound plans, and completing the RSPO grievance panel with an Indonesian representative. Unfortunately they were not adopted due to a lack of quorum. They will be discussed during a new General Assembly that RSPO is expected to organise early 2012.